The Weight of Us
by AnUnseenWorld
Summary: A collection of drabbles and oneshots, covering various characters. Legend of Korra.
1. Korra: Anniversary

**A series of drabbles and oneshots, starting with Korra and working its way to the rest of the characters.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

She spends the eve of her birthday practicing at the Pro-Bending arena, then in the brothers' apartment in the attic.

"_Why would you want to spend your birthday in the attic, anyway?" Bolin had asked her after he had granted her permission to stay with them, after their practice session._

"_Because," she replied, plopping down on a bench, "if tomorrow is my birthday, today is the anniversary of Avatar Aang's death. I don't really feel like being around Tenzin and his family while they're sulking around and mourning."_

_Mako took off his helmet and shrugged. "Fair enough. I hope you don't mind the couch, though, because it's all that we've got."_

_Of course, Korra didn't complain._

Well into the night, Korra finds herself unable to sleep. It was rare for her; she would usually be asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. But tonight, she finds herself sitting on the attic window's sill, gaze set to Air Temple Island.

"Hey," a voice says behind her, "that's my spot." Mako chuckles at Korra and sits down beside her. "Can't sleep?" Korra shakes her head.

"You can't either?"

"Nah," Mako says, "I can never seem to fall asleep, though." He looks at her, though his gaze doesn't quite meet hers. "So…uh, happy birthday."

Korra shrugs. "Thanks," she says blandly.

"What? Don't like birthdays?"

Korra exhales, a long and heavy sigh escaping her lips. "Well, they're not all that bad. I mean, when I lived at the compound in the Southern Water Tribe, I didn't have to train, and I got to see my parents and have dinner with them, and Sifu Katara always made me a cake and stuff, but…it was always awkward. I mean, Sifu and the White Lotus members who knew Avatar Aang were in mourning just the day before it, and then when my birthday came around, it didn't feel—I don't know—welcome. It never felt like _my birthday, _always the anniversary of Avatar Aang's death, you know?"

Mako puts a hand on her shoulder. "I get it." He sighs. "I've never liked birthdays much, either."

"Yeah, but you weren't born the day after the most powerful man in the world died," she pouts.

"True, true," Mako says. "But, uh, think of it this way: yeah, it sucks that Avatar Aang died since you know his family and all and now you have to live up to his legacy and stuff—"

"—not helping, Mako," Korra snaps.

"Okay, okay, let me finish. Well, uh…if he didn't die, you wouldn't get to be the Avatar, and then…well…you would never have even come to Republic City in the first place, and you would have never met me—_us!_ Me and Bolin...that is," he finishes lamely. "Does that make you feel better?"

Korra smiles. "A little." She pushes herself off of the sill and back into the apartment, heading toward the couch. "Well, I'm gonna try and get some sleep," she says, back turned to Mako. "Good night."

Mako wishes her a good night, and Korra falls asleep as soon as her head reaches the pillow Bolin had lent her.

* * *

In the morning, she wakes up to a small, crudely iced cake in front of her. Drowsily, she picks it up, noticing the characters of her name smeared in blue icing over the top. She walks into the kitchen, where Bolin is making breakfast and Mako is reading the newspaper and asks, "who made this?"

Bolin smiles and says, "it's not much, but we figured you should have something."

"So you made it?"

Bolin laughs, a thick, hearty sound. "Actually," he says, gesturing to his brother, "Mako over here did." Mako's face turns almost as red as his scarf as he places a hand over his forehead.

Korra can't help but giggle. "Thanks, Mako."

Mako just glares at Korra and grunts, "well, aren't you going to eat it?" Korra rolls her eyes playfully and sits down beside him and elbows him in the ribs, taking it as a "_you're welcome."_


	2. Tenzin: Discovery

**I figured that Tenzin would know the basic details of the war just because of who his family is, but I guess he has to find out some time.**

**Of course, he isn't told _all _of the details of the war, but he's most likely told a lot about it now.**

* * *

Tenzin doesn't learn of the Hundred Year War until he is eight.

Of course, he had heard the basic details and snippets of talk of it on the streets—_"I'll say, the Fire Nation hasn't been the same since the war's end," you think you have it bad? I served in the Hundred Year War, and you don't hear me complaining!"_—but never the genocide of his father's (and his) people, never the killings, his parents' close calls with death, the reason for Uncle Zuko's scar and the man who gave it to him.

It's not until he hears a harsh gasp resonate through the house from his parents' room that he learns anything about it.

He stands outside his parents' room, his father's back to him. Aang sobs into the shoulder of his mother, who rubs his back soothingly and murmurs, "it's okay, sweetie, it's okay. We're safe; it was just a dream. We're _okay_," repeatedly. The sobs become more infrequent, and Katara kisses the top of his head and exhales. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Aang nods. "Sure."

Tenzin's mother gives his father a small smile, taking his hand. But it isn't until she and Aang get out of their bed that they notice Tenzin standing in the doorway. "Come on, I'll make you some tea. We don't want to wake the—_Tenzin_!"

Aang stares at his son for a moment, eyes wide, then relaxes slightly, sitting down on his knees in front of Tenzin. He puts a hand on his shoulder. Tenzin notices that it's still trembling. "When did you wake up?"

Tenzin stares back at his father. "Well, I heard you, and I thought you were in trouble..."

Aang smiles, warm and reassuring. "No trouble, son. I just a bad dream, that's all."

"What was it about?" Tenzin asks innocently.

His parents share a fervent glance at each other, then Aang looks back to Tenzin and sighs. His expression softens. "Well, I guess now is as good a time as any, Katara." He takes Tenzin's hand and starts to lead him down to the kitchen. "How much do you know about the Hundred Year War, Tenzin?"

And with that, Aang and Katara tell him all that they can bear to reveal to him about the war at his age, at about two in the morning over a pot of jasmine tea.


	3. Bolin: Worry

**Bolin and Mako, who are definitely two of my favorite characters so far. So of course, I have a lot of feelings about their relationship.**

**(And also, can you believe Korra is airing in less than a week?)**

* * *

"Don't worry about it."

It's his brother's most commonly used phrase.

But despite whatever Mako says, his brother is one of the few things that Bolin _does _worry about. He's aware that his brother looks out and takes care of him at all costs, even at his own expense. He thinks that Bolin can't tell that when he rations out their meals, Bolin receives a significantly larger portion, leaving Mako with only a meager amount of food scraps. Bolin points this out to Mako one night, and he simply shakes his head and huffs, "don't worry about it, bro. Eat up."

He never did gain back all of the weight he lost on the streets.

And then there's the way Mako would attempt to mask sickness. When he starts to come down with an illness, he trudges along with a dry, hacking cough or a high fever, but when Bolin would suggest that they get help, Mako tells him curtly, "it's nothing. _Don't worry about it." _

But then he would always work himself to exhaustion, and his body would give out; he passes out while he and Bolin walk from odd job to odd job, in alleyways, in the middle of the streets. Anywhere, at random.

Every time, Bolin sets his unconscious brother down in an alleyway on top of his thin blanket, one of the only comforts the boy has, and wets his jacket with murky water from a nearby puddle, the only water source available to him, and places it over his brother's burning forehead.

And at those times, when he is exposed to the elements of the city in nothing more than his undershirt and thin pair of pants and his brother is out cold with a sweltering fever, all that there was left for Bolin to do was _"worry about it."_


	4. Pema: Introduction

**Mh, not too in love with this one, but I wanted to write at least a little about these two.**

* * *

The first time she meets Tenzin is at the United Republic's university.

It is just under a month after Avatar Aang's death. Tenzin holds a lecture about Air Nomad culture, while Pema, a second-year student, frantically jots down notes about everything she finds interesting—which is almost everything.

After the lecture, the Airbending master strides out of the lecture hall, and she rushes out behind him.

"Master Tenzin?"

His head turns to stare at her for a moment before he briskly whips his head back and continues to walk forward. He exhales. "I'm sorry, young lady, but if you're going to send your condolences, I'm not very interested."

He walks quickly, and Pema takes great strides in order to keep up with him, nearly tripping over her own feet a few times. "No, no," she says, sounding slightly winded, "nothing like that—I mean, your father was a great man, but actually, I'm studying world cultures, but I've taken interest in the Air Nomad culture and, well, I have some additional questions."

Tenzin stops walking. Pema catches her breath. "Such as…?"

"Well," Pema begins, "you covered ancient artifacts and rituals, but I was wondering if you could tell me about the Air Temples and the nomads' customs. Oh, and the Air Acolytes, if it wouldn't be too much of a hassle."

Tenzin offers her a small smile. "No hassle at all," he says, turning and walking back to the lecture hall. "Right this way."

She grins, appreciating the change of heart. "Thank you, sir. My name is Pema, by the way."


	5. Katara: Reminiscence

**I'm really hoping Korra and Katara are close, so in my headcanon, they are. **

**And...yeah.**

* * *

Every so often, Katara receives a letter from Korra. Usually, they are brief and simple, and Katara suspects she writes them in between adventures: outings with her friends (Mako and Bolin, she'd mentioned), Airbending training (which were long and tedious to the Avatar), fighting Equalists (which she admitted, only to Katara and on one occasion, Tenzin, never ceased to fill her with terror), playing in Pro-Bending matches (much to her son's chagrin). The writing was casual and highly personal, like their relationship usually was, all the same.

So when a White Lotus guard hands her Korra's latest letter, she is not expecting much, though the prospect of hearing from her former student brightens her day all the same.

She opens the letter, surprised to find writing from the very top of the parchment scroll to the very bottom.

_ Dear Sifu,_

_Airbending training has been getting better, believe it or not. I can finally get through those damn gates in one piece, and then get them to spin with Airbending now! It's not much, but hey, it's a start._

_Also, we won the Pro-Bending tournament, so Mako and Bolin can pay their rent and don't have to worry about money for a while—I told you about how they used to live on the streets, right, Sifu?_

_Oh and also, Mako? Weepiest. Drunk. _Ever. _Damn it, you can't take that guy _anywhere! _Okay, that's a lie, he's a good friend, even though he sucks at talking to people and makes an ass out of himself a lot. _

_(But…I might actually _like_ him…which is kind of a strange and terrible feeling.)_

_But moving on to something more important:_

_I talked to Aang for the first time. It was while I was sleeping last night, I guess he summoned me into the Spirit World or however that works? Well anyway, we talked for a while. He wishes he could have met Pema and been at their wedding, and then meet Ikki, Jinora, and Meelo. And then somehow, he got to the topic of _love _and how "I see you've been spending a lot of time with that Mako boy, Korra…" and then he suggested that I take him penguin sledding, of all things. I'm still not sure if he was joking or not, but I told him that the only penguins in Republic City belong to the zoo, and I'd rather not be arrested by Chief Bei Fong for the second time this month, and that Mako would probably pee his pants if he had to get on back of a penguin, anyway. (Though I'm sure it's an in-joke between the two of you, because he started talking about you right after he said it. In which case…you sure know how to pick 'em, Sifu.)_

_He told me to tell you that he misses you. A lot. And I'm sure that you miss him just as much. He went on to say that he had this selfish wish that you'd join him soon, even though your family and I would miss you when you…go. But I think it's selfish of me to _not _want you and Aang to see each other again, because that means that you'd just be _gone _and then…I'd miss you an awful lot, Sifu._

_Well, I think it's about time I shut up, so I'll write to you another time._

_Korra._

Katara rolls the parchment back up and smiles a small, reminiscent smile, feeling tears well up in her eyes.


	6. Mako: Stance

**Spawned from the prompt "Mako being awkward around Korra" over on Tumblr, and then I just had fun.**

**The lovely Tumblr user minuiko drew fanart for it, which can be found here!**

* * *

"Your stance is off." It's the only thing she says as she enters the training room, where Mako has been practicing for the past half hour.

Mako rolls his eyes. "And you're late. Can we move on from the criticism and start practicing?"

"You really want to fight me with _that_ form?" Korra asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Korra, this is the stance I always fight in. It hasn't failed me yet."

She scoffs. "Yeah, but it's _wrong._ My Firebending sifu would have you flat on your back in two seconds with it." She walks behind behind Mako. "Here."

Before Mako is even aware of what is happening, her chest is pressed against his back, her hands grasping his arms. He prays that she can't feel his heartbeat quicken, that his head won't turn in the wrong direction to reveal to her how red his face is becoming, that he won't trip and fall and make an ass out of himself in front of her yet again, and he feels her moving his arms into a position that's foreign to him as his mind works. She kicks at his feet to widen his stance. She moves his right leg back and brings his left to the front.

And then she puts her head in the crook of his neck to check her work and adjust his forearms and hands, and as Korra's hands make contact with his wrists, Mako doesn't think he can handle this anymore. He feels flustered and bothered and his tongue turns to dry clay in his mouth.

Korra smirks. "And that's how a Firebender should stand." Her head is still in the crook of his neck as she brings her hands to his shoulders. "Got it?"

_Oh, she's doing it on_purpose!

Mako tries to form words, but they die in his throat. "Uh…I…ah. Y-yeah."


	7. Katara and Zuko: Old Time's Sake

**Because Katara and Zuko are, as far as we know, the only two members of Team Avatar who are still alive, which fills me with all kinds of feelings.**

* * *

Katara and Zuko still keep in touch. Today, after Katara's visit to Air Temple Island has come to an end and Zuko's job as an ambassador has been finished, they meet in The Jasmine Dragon for old times'

sake.

They sit across from each other at a wooden table, legs crossed in front of them and tea cups in their hands. An antique teapot that had once belonged to Zuko's uncle holds jasmine tea, which Zuko pours for himself and Katara. "It'll never quite be the same as Uncle's tea," Zuko laments as he raises the cup to his lips.

Katara sighs, then smiles. "It feels like so long ago," she ponders, eyes surveying the shop's main room, "Iroh making tea, Sokka trying to paint, all of us alive and well…" Her voice trails off, and then she adds, "but in a way, it kind of feels like yesterday, doesn't it?"

"In a way." Zuko laughs gruffly. "It feels like just yesterday that you hated my guts," he jests lightly. "But in a way, yeah, it feels like an eternity's passed since I was a prince." He puts a hand on his chin to stroke his beard thoughtfully. "I was a completely different person back then."

She chuckles, and then Katara pipes up, "Remember when I threatened to kill you?" Her eyes are glinting as she smiles amusedly at the memory.

"Oh yeah," the former Fire Lord cries, "right after I joined your group!" He laughs again, this time a fuller, heartier laugh. "Spirits, you scared me! I still remember it: _'you give me reason to make me thing you might hurt Aang…'_"

"'…and I'll make sure your destiny ends right then and there, permanently.'" Katara smirks. "A lot has changed since then, hasn't it?"

Zuko smiles back at her in agreement. He catches her gaze lock on the balcony, where a young couple sat with their arms around each other. Her eyes clouded over, her expression choked with nostalgia.

"You miss him, don't you?"

Katara nods and looks out to the balcony. The room held memories, ghosts of their old friends and old lives, phantoms of stories they had told in this very room, kisses Katara had shared with her now-deceased husband, and, most of all, the feeling of wholeness that there had been, though neither she nor Zuko had ever thought to acknowledge it before, when everyone she loved was there.

The Jasmine Dragon was a source of solace for the two of them, a reassurance that some of their old lives were still intact, but it was also painfully empty, with multiple poignant voids—Aang, Sokka, Toph, Iroh, Appa, Momo, Suki, and Mai—that could never be filled again.

"Of course I do," she replies remorsefully, nodding slowly "of course."

The former Fire Lord sighs. He looks down at his hands, at the teacup he is holding. "I do, too, Katara."

The former Avatar's wife and best friend sit in silence, a thick, maudlin pause filling the air.


End file.
